Paria Outdoor’s ReCharge UL

This is a product I am very excited about as I believe it is one of the highest quality pads of its type, but also the most bang for your buck.

So a few weeks ago I received my Paria Outdoors ReCharge UL sleeping pad. I ordered it before a camping trip/family reunion in the Sawtooth’s, so I could test it out. It arrived the day before my flight and I was pumped to see how small it really was in its stuff sack.

I ordered the regular size as it also comes in an XL which is 26oz, but also has an R-value of 4.7. I easily fit it inside one of my bags which were stuffed with camping gear for both my girlfriend and I along with fishing gear.

But before I packed it, I had to blow it up in my room and check it out. First thing I noticed was how damn light this thing is, 20 oz for an r-value of 3.5 is awesome, especially at $69 dollars. It came out of the stuff sack folded in thirds which appears to be the best way to restuff this pad. Now was the part I was kind of worried about, I’d read online that this thing was a bitch to blow up. I began blowing on the 2 way valve and within 45 seconds and maybe 15 breaths this thing was blown up, and it’s not like I’m Paris Hilton with the blow game, it’s just easily blown up. I was pissed I listened to people, because I had already ordered the blow up sack for this item, which attaches to the valve, but actually makes this way more of a chore to fill up.

Once I had the pad filled up, I layed on this thing and I jizzed in my pants out of complete and utter comfort, leading me to another point, this thing cleans up with wet wipes very easily if you spill anything on this like your mountain house or jizz. But in all reality, God this thing was awesome, I’d been used to my dads old foam roll that he gave me and a thermalite z-lite I bought for myself (which I still love), so this thing was bliss. The Recharge has horizontal baffles, which I prefer over the chambered style on the Klymit Static V and closed cell designs. The pad also utilizes Diamond Ripstop nylon which is a textured surface, supposedly to keep you from sliding off, but that mostly falls on how you sleep. The pad has insulation on the interior of the pad which is meant to retain warmth and warm you throughout the night as it protects you from the cold earth. You can move around on the pad without annoying the hell out of yourself which is nice, unlike the Thermarest Neoair xlite which in my opinion sounds like a bag of fritos being crumpled if you so much as fart on the pad.

The Neoair xlite also costs $60 more than this item with the exact same R-value. The Xlite does save you 4 whole ounces so if you really care more about 4 ounces than $60 go right ahead and get that thing. I will do a comparison review one of these days for a few of the top-selling sleeping pads and compare them against some other ones on the market that aren’t getting as much love.

Deflating this thing takes about 30 seconds if you do the Spazzy McGee on it. Overall, I really loved this thing and give it a full 5/5 fucks given (Sorry, just read Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck).

As for my actual field experience with this thing, I couldn’t be happier. The Sawtooths were perfect, during the day it got pretty damn hot, but at night it got real nipply, in the mid thirties. I slept in no socks, shorts and a t-shirt completely fine on this pad. I am a crazy stomach sleeper and this thing was perfect for me. Ashley, tried to use my pad one night but I told her I needed it in the name of science and I got it back, thank the lord, she was stuck with my z-lite.

Overall, couldn’t be more pumped with this bag. I actually just got my first quilt the Aegismax WindHard the other day and tried out the straps on my pad and I loved the feel of that too. Ill be reviewing the WindHard soon. Thanks for reading.